Millie's Second Chance (14 page)

She took a deep breath and felt guilty for accusing him of something he hadn’t done. She was on edge, and now would be as good a time as any to ask for the help.

“I’m sorry.” She looked down toward the ground then back up into Hank’s eyes. Now Dalton stood next to his brother, and Dalton just stared at her.

“I’m a bit on edge. I know everyone is concerned and I have a lot going on in my head. I’m sorry.”

“That’s understandable.” Hank gave her a small smile. She noticed how bright his blue eyes were and also the slight dimple in his left cheek.

“I’m actually glad that you’re here, Hank,” she began after staring at him for an awkward few moments.

And Dalton raised his eyebrows at her as if he were offended that he wasn’t included in that “glad you’re here” sentence. Deep inside, she was happy to see them both. What woman wouldn’t like a visit from two big, strong, sexy cowboys? But she had a plan here that needed to be set in motion.

“I was hoping to talk with you about me taking a different class at your dojo.”

“Well, that’s a definite, or you’d be bored in the class you’re in now,” Hank stated with a small smile. “Well, actually, I had an idea and was hoping that you could maybe train me like you train the law enforcement and military around town.”

“What? Why?” Dalton asked, interrupting her conversation with Hank. His voice was deep and firm and she actually shuddered from it.

She felt her cheeks warm and she placed her hand on the ladder for a bit of support.

“What exactly is going on in that head of yours, Millie?” Hank asked.

“I’m interested in that type of training.”

“No, you’re thinking that those detectives aren’t going to locate this guy Frank in New York and that he’s going to come here to Pearl,” Dalton stated and Hank looked at his brother and then back at Millie.

“Will you help me or not?” she asked.

“You’re a beautiful young woman, why would you want to learn such things?” Dalton asked.

“Listen, I don’t need to explain myself to you.” She attempted to walk away, but Dalton blocked her path and grabbed her wrist. She froze in place as she looked up into his mean, green eyes.

“That’s where you’re wrong. You need a damn good reason to get that type of training and ‘for self-defense’ isn’t good enough.”

She clenched her fists despite his hold on her one wrist.

She glared up at him. “How about for survival? Would that be good enough reason, Dalton? Maybe because I’ve been abused and nearly killed by the man before and I’m scared of him and I’m tired of being a victim!” She shook with emotion. The man surely got under her skin.

He released her wrist and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“I don’t think you know what this type of training entails, Millie. This isn’t like in the movies, where you learn things in one try. We don’t take it easy on our students male or female. We teach survival and the principle of ‘kill or be killed’ as the final and last resort.”

“You’re not military and you’re not law enforcement,” Hank added.

“I just want to be better trained and somewhat prepared if they don’t catch Frank in New York. I know you offer the training, but if you’re not willing to help me, then I suppose I’ll be forced to look elsewhere. I’ve already looked up a few places in Turbank and farther south.”

They were both silent a moment and then Hank spoke. “Come to the dojo tomorrow at seven.”

“Okay,” she whispered as Hank and Dalton exited the building.

Millie released a long sigh and shook with fear she had been desperately trying to hide. That hadn’t gone as badly as she feared it might have. They could have downright refused her.

They were seriously intense men and she hoped that she could follow through with her decision. She was truly tired of living in fear and being scared of Frank. Perhaps Dalton and Hank could help her gain some confidence back so she wouldn’t be such a scaredy-cat anymore.

“Why are you doing this, Frank? Please talk to me. We can discuss the feelings that you’re having,” Sheila pleaded as Frank pulled the restraints tighter. She had opened up a savings account for him after he cried about not being able to get a job as an ex-con. His acting and sob story worked and he was fifty thousand richer. He had withdrawn the money and decided to keep her around for a little longer. He had gotten a little information from Clare about Millie’s ex-lover, Stewart. The little fuck used Millie for her body and now he would suffer. Millie never should have been with another man. She belonged to him and no one else. Hadn’t he made himself clear the last time they were together? He walked over to the piece of shit and tugged on the ropes.

“I know you’re awake. You can’t be that much of a wuss,” he yelled at Stewart, who was tied to chair, bloody and nearly unconscious.

“Please, I don’t know what you want,” Stewart moaned.

Frank looked over at Sheila, who was as white as a ghost and perspiring with fear. The good doctor would see firsthand what he was capable of. No therapy of any kind could truly help a man like him. He wasn’t sick. He was in love and would do anything for that love. No one was going to stand in his way.

“Where is she?” Frank asked Stewart.

“I don’t know,” Stewart cried like a blubbering sissy.

Frank struck him with a backhand across the cheek. Stewart moaned.

“Don’t, Frank. Leave him alone,” Sheila cried out.

He pointed at her from a few feet away.

“Shut up, bitch! You’re next.”

He grabbed Stewart by his shirt and shook him.

“Think, Stewart! Think, damn it. Where the hell is Millie? I want my woman back, asshole.”

“I don’t know. I can’t think.”

Frank punched Stewart in the stomach.

“You worthless piece of shit. You hurt her. You destroyed her with your evil words. I’m going to kill you, Stewart.”

Sheila screamed and Stewart cried out.

“She has friends. Her friends from Texas. She talks to them all the time. Maybe she’s there.”

Frank stopped and stared at Stewart.

Millie used to live somewhere in Texas. Did Stacy and Anna move out there? Is that where my baby is? Stacy probably talked Millie into leaving. That bitch will die for interfering again. I should have killed Stacy then the bitch wouldn’t be such a problem right now.

“Please don’t kill me. Please,” Stewart begged, and Frank smiled as he walked away from Stewart and toward the duffle bag.

He watched Sheila, her eyes red with fear and her body shaking.

“You think you could make me forget about my woman, Sheila? You think you know me and know what it’s like to feel true pain?”

Sheila shook her head.

“Please, Frank. Don’t kill him. Let us go and get the help you need.”

Frank smiled.

“I don’t need any help. I know exactly who I am and what I want. It’s people like you and Stewart here that hide behind your money and education, thinking that you own this world and can manipulate anyone you choose to. He took my woman. He hurt her and now he’s going to die.”

“I can help you, Frank. Listen to me. You don’t want to do this. You don’t really want to take another life. Let’s talk this through. I care about you. I stood behind you when no one else believed that you were cured. Come on, Frank. Put down the knife.” Sheila spoke in that condescending, therapeutic tone that irked him.

“I think you’ve read too many text books, doc. You can’t cure men like me. I like to kill and to cause pain when I don’t get what I want and what I deserve. I deserve Millie. I want Millie. If I have to kill to get her, then so be it. Besides, it makes me feel good inside.”

“No, I don’t believe you. You love me. You told me so and promised that we would start a new life together,” Sheila replied.

“Ha. I lied. I would do anything to get what I want. I have determination, desire, and hunger. People like you and this sniveling idiot frown upon people like me. I’m the underdog. I don’t need to be rich or have some mansion or fancy car. No, all I need is the love of my woman. I’m going to find Millie. First, I’m going to kill this piece of crap nice and slowly while you watch and then you and I are going to have some fun. You’re going to learn firsthand what it’s like to be a victim, doc. All those people you helped get out of jail only for them to kill again was because of you. I’m going to help you see reality before you die.”

* * * *

Wyatt had given Millie a ride into town on his way into work so she could start her training with Dalton and Hank. Her truck would be ready by nine and she would wait around for it after the workout.

Wyatt informed her that Frank’s therapist was still missing and so was her car.

Detective Flynn discovered evidence indicating that Frank’s therapist was in fact aiding him on a personal level. She had notes indicating that she was falling in love with Frank and he was falling in love with her. She apparently set up a savings account with fifty thousand dollars in it for him, and he drained the account. Millie felt sick to her stomach. But the fact that a therapist was so unethical and that she chose to fall for Frank was more bad luck for Millie. It seemed that odds were against Millie to ever be free from Frank’s threats and abuse. The news made her feel worse, but Wyatt reminded her of how cunning and manipulative Frank had become. Wyatt said that Flynn believed Frank manipulated his therapist and lied to her to get out of prison so he could find Millie. Some notes from his doctor explained counseling sessions where Frank admitted feeling incomplete for not killing Millie or possessing her fully for eternity. Millie couldn’t handle some of the other information Flynn told Wyatt. The bottom line was that Frank could be anywhere at this time.

Millie knocked on the door to the dojo because it was locked. At first she wondered if Hank and Dalton had changed their minds, but then she saw Hank.

He wasn’t wearing his gi but instead baggy martial arts pants and a tight T-shirt that showed off his perfect physique. “Good morning.” He let her in.

“Morning,” she replied then he closed the door and relocked it.

“No one else is coming to this session?” she asked, feeling a bit nervous.

“Just you. We don’t exactly want to advertise what we’re doing here. I don’t think that this is the answer for you. You deserve to be taken care of and protected.”

She was shocked by his words and couldn’t respond as he continued to walk toward the back gym. She wanted to respond but now she had second thoughts. Do this, don’t do this, she was totally confused. She gave herself a mental kick. Wasn’t this the point of getting the training? Didn’t she want a fighting chance if Frank found her? She suddenly felt sick to her stomach and weak again.

She focused on following Hank. The rest of the place was dark and a bit of fear filled her gut. She was going to be alone with a man, a very resourceful man, whom she hardly knew at all.

She was turning into a worrywart. Frank made her weak and made her feel incapable of taking care of herself. She grew stronger after he was behind bars, and the moment she found out that he was free, she felt the need to run for safety within the imaginary shell she created. She felt herself closing into that imaginary world, the one which nearly killed her because she hadn’t followed her gut or asked for help. She swallowed hard as she stared at the dark shirt stretched across Hank’s wide, muscular back. He was way bigger than Frank.

She reminded herself that people knew where she was. Wyatt knew and he had hinted to the fact that she was safe around the Lewis brothers. Something told her that she didn’t know what she was getting into.

Millie entered the room and saw Dalton stretching. He was wearing black karate pants and a tight black T-shirt. She could see tattoos on his upper arms and the same fierce expression he always seemed to have around her. She wasn’t expecting him to be there, too. She should have known since she asked both of them for help. Dalton had seemed adamant about her request. Did he have other motives?
Shit.

The man had major sex appeal, just like the rest of his brothers. Why was she suddenly feeling hot and aroused?

“Put your bag in the corner. We’ll do some stretches first,” Hank stated firmly and she immediately did as she was told. She dropped her bag in the corner.

“You’re going to be hot in that sweatshirt,” Hank practically barked at her. He seemed tense.

“I’ll take it off when I’m hot,” she replied, not wanting to admit that she felt a little self-conscious around such physically fit ex-military men.

Dalton rolled his eyes at her and she felt her cheeks blush. Was he able to read minds?

She sat down and began her stretches until Dalton stood up.

“Attention,” he commanded, and she immediately stood at attention with her hands by her sides.

“We’re going to start with some general moves to see how you maneuver in hand-to-hand combat. Then we’ll take it to the mats,” Dalton informed her.

She almost wasn’t prepared for the simultaneous moves from both Hank and Dalton. They came at her, first one then the other, and she maneuvered her way between them. One would send a fist toward her as the other tried to take out her legs. This went on for several long minutes until Hank stepped aside and Dalton began a one-on-one assault.